Creams, lotions and ointments for the treatment of skin conditions have been employed for many years. Typically, those creams, lotions and ointments are either inappropriate for the treatment for which they are used, or aesthetically unpleasing. For instance, razor burn, which is a colloquial expression for the areas of roughened, irritated and cut skin experienced after shaving, is a serious problem for women who shave a considerable portion of their bodies (legs, underarms and/or so-called "bikini" areas). Hand lotions or other emollient creams are often used in an attempt to soothe and cool these areas. However, such creams do not generally contain ingredients to encourage healing (such as an anti-pruritic like menthol) nor to adequately stem the discomfort (such as a topical anesthetic like lidocaine) and can be extremely messy when applied over large areas of skin.
Similarly, vehicles for the application of an antihistamine for insect bites, poison ivy and the like; an anti-inflammatory agent for itchy and inflamed skin; or an antifungal agent for athlete's foot can be messy and aesthetically unpleasing when applied as directed.
Although the prior art does include reference vehicles in which a local anesthetic such as lidocaine is present, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,906 to von Stetten et al., such is for parenteral application. Topical preparations for analgesics are also known, such as those of U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,411 to Koloff and U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,896 to Levy, but they do not provide the degree of relief which can be provided by a topical anesthetic, especially since analgesics are generally applied for their activity below the skin surface, in muscles and joints.
What is desired, therefore, is a system for the topical delivery of a treatment agent effective for easing the discomfort of razor burn, the sting and itching of insect bites or poison ivy (or the like), the irritation of itchy and inflamed skin, or the nuisance of athlete's foot, which effectively delivers the treatment agent in a non-messy, aesthetically pleasing vehicle.